{"id":373171,"date":"2016-11-14T14:12:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T19:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/illinois-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-illinois.html"},"modified":"2018-12-19T12:34:55","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T17:34:55","slug":"pain-and-suffering-damages-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/illinois-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-illinois.html","title":{"rendered":"Pain and Suffering Damages in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pain and Suffering Damages in Illinois<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last reviewed\n

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Maybe you were injured on your way to see "Da Bears" play the Packers. Or perhaps you were in an accident in Starved Rock State Park. If you’re pursuing a claim against someone, you may be able to recover damages for pain and suffering. In Illinois courts, "pain and suffering" is a legal term for the physical and emotional distress caused by a physical injury. Read on to learn how courts treat pain and suffering damages in Illinois.<\/p>\r\n

Below is a table showing key aspects of Illinois law regarding pain and suffering damages, including limits on damages and the statute of limitations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Statute of Limitations<\/b><\/td>\r\n

2 years for personal injury & medical malpractice (Sec’s. 5\/13-202<\/a> & 5\/13-212<\/a>); 1 year to file claim against state or local governments (Sec’s. 505\/22-1<\/a> & 10\/8-101<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>

Limits on Damages<\/b><\/td>\r\nNo damages cap, generally (deemed unconstitutional<\/a> by Illinois Supreme Court); $100,000 cap on most claims against the state (Sec. 505\/8<\/a>)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Other Limits<\/b><\/td>\r\nComparative negligence rule may prohibit or reduce recovery of any damages (Sec. 5\/2-1116<\/a>)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

Economic vs. Non-economic Damages<\/h2>\r\n

If you’ve been injured, there are usually two kinds of damages<\/a> to think about: economic (or "special") and non-economic (or "general"). Economic damages are the objective, out-of-pocket expenses of an injury, like medical bills, while non-economic damages refer to the more subjective, non-monetary costs of an accident, including physical and emotional pain and suffering (for example: depression, insomnia, and physical pain).<\/p>\r\n

Measuring Damages for Pain and Suffering<\/h2>\r\n

Damages for pain and suffering are difficult to measure<\/a> and vary widely because the experience of pain and suffering is so subjective and courts often give juries very little guidance for deciding how much to award the injured. However, attorneys and juries sometimes use relevant factors to assign value to these kinds of damages.<\/p>\r\n

Examples of Factors Used to Determining Damages for Pain and Suffering<\/u><\/p>\r\n